Pop and Lock
by incendiar
Summary: 300 by 31: A series of one-shots focusing on Glee Club's resident pop and lock expert, Mike Chang. Prompt 3: snowfall
1. empathy

**A/N:** I've been sucked into the show Glee. Oh dear. In the midst of the madness, I realized..._ poor Other Asian. He doesn't have a fan base._ In light of this, I've decided to write a short one-shot each day during the month of December, about Glee's resident pop and lock expert, Mike Chang. I've never written fanfiction for a TV show before... or posted regularly... or, now that I think about it, finished a story. Here goes. =) Let me know what you think.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Glee, Mike Chang would have a back-story by now.

**300 by 31:** day 1: December 1st, 2009 (319 words)

**Prompt: **empathy

* * *

"Thanks, Mike," Brittany sniffed. "You're a really, really good listener."

Mike nodded and gave Brittany a small smile. "Do you feel better now?" he asked, handing the girl a Kleenex from his bag.

"Yeah," she said, wiping away the last of her tears. "I have to get to practice. I'll see you later?" Mike nodded, and Brittany stood. She have him a hug and a peck on the cheek, then ran off to practice, her blond ponytail bouncing.

Mike smiled slightly and watched his girlfriend of two months leave.

-

"T-thanks, M-mike," Tina said. "U-ugh. I need to stop doing-g that. I guess habits are hard to break."

"Don't worry about it," Mike said.

"You're a really good listener, Mike," Tina said. "Thanks. I'll figure out this... whole thing later."

"Don't worry about it," Mike repeated. "You're a great girl, Tina. Artie will come around."

"I know," Tina said. She chewed on her lip for a moment. Finally, she gave Mike a hug, but pulled away quickly, blushing furiously. "B-bye," she said, turning a walking away down the hallway.

Mike watched his second cousin go, smiling slightly.

-

"She just can't get over him," Matt turned to the guy he considered his best friend.

"Santana will come around. This thing with Puck won't last," Mike explained. "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, I know. Man, it's messing with my game... I'll see you around," Matt said. "Thanks Mike. You're good at this stuff."

Mike nodded and smiled slightly as his best friend turned and walked away.

-

"You know, Mike, you're a really good listener," Rachel said as she packed up her bag. "Glee is lucky to have you."

"Yeah, I kinda get that a lot," Mike said, doing the same.

"It's true. Thanks, Mike."

"No problem."

Mike watched as Rachel smiled, grabbed her bag, and left. He smiled his same small, slightly sad smile.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I get that a lot."


	2. grape

**A/N:** Because Mike has a family too. =)

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Glee, Mike Chang would have a solo by now.

**300 by 31: **day 2: December 2nd, 2009 (492 words)

**Prompt:** grape

* * *

It was certainly purple.

Mike glanced at the cup of very, very unnaturally purple juice. He used the word "juice" very loosely, of course. Mike was sure nothing with that much undissolved drink mix floating around in the bottom of the cup could be called juice. He swirled the cup for a moment. The grit formed a mushroom cloud, which became a tornado, before settling on the bottom again.

It was purple.

Mike looked from the cup to his little sister, who watched him expectantly.

"It's really yummy, Mike," she said, smiling. "Grape. Your favorite flavor."

"Yeah... Thanks," he said. "I'll, uh, drink it later." He set the cup on the desk and turned back to his math homework.

A moment later he heard the distinct sniffling sound that signaled the beginning of a flood of tears. Mike cringed.

He'd have to drink it.

He picked up the glass. Raised it to his mouth hesitantly. Sniffed once. Sneezed after inhaling some of the dry powder hiding on the rim of the glass. Finally, he took a sip.

It was absolutely disgusting. It _tasted_ purple. How was that even possible?

It distinctly reminded him of a purple Big Gulp. He'd been on the recieving end of more than one, both through a straw and in surprise attacks in the math hallway. He'd been on the other side at one time, attacking geeks and nerds alike with sixty-four ounces of high fructose corn syrup, but that was before he'd joined Glee Club. The sickly sweet taste of artificial grape flavoring didn't change, but he could.

The sniffling noises behind him stopped.

He took another sip. Cringed inwardly, then took yet another.

The dregs of drink mix swished around, mocking him. As he drank the liquid, the sugar and powder became a mass of sludge at the bottom of the cup. Swallowing once, he tilted his head back and downed the mixture.

The powder stuck to the roof of his mouth and down his throat, but he swallowed compulsively and ignored it.

His sister was at his side a moment later.

"Was it really, really, really yummy?" she asked, eyes shining. Mike nodded.

"Yeah, it was. Thanks." He smiled. "Math makes me really thirsty. That juice was just what I needed."

"Really?"

Mike nodded. He ruffled her hair, and his sister squealed.

Mike had learned a lot from Football and Glee Club.

"Mom will be home soon. Want to help me make dinner?"

A lot of those things applied to the rest of his life, too.

"Sure! We can make some more grape juice!"

Sometimes, you had to take one for the team.


	3. snowfall

**A/N:** I've been disproved. Mike _does_ have a fan base. I guess I just wasn't looking in the right places ;)

Here's today's update -- this morning was the first December snow where I live, so McKinley got a blanket of white too. =) I'm happy with how this one turned out, but the last scene is much better in my head than in writing. Just sayin'. Enjoy~

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Glee, Mike Chang would be the main character.

**300 by 31: **day 3: December 3rd, 2009 (366 words)

**Prompt: **snowfall

* * *

Mike looked like a kid in a candy store.

"You, Other Asian! Quit grinning like a lunatic!"

Ms. Sylvester did not approve.

Mike let his smile fade at the reprimand, but a moment later he caught sight of the view from the window. He couldn't help it. He grinned. Mike looked for the nearest Glee club member.

"Santana!" Mike cheered. He quickly closed the gap between them and tried to spin her around. Santana huffed indignantly and smoothed her uniform. She glared.

"What was that for, Chang?"

Mike was not deterred by her scathing tone.

"It's SNOWING!" He celebrated this announcement with a small dance. "The first snow of the season!"

"Yay." Santana pushed past him, entirely unexcited.

Mike walked to each of his classes with a special bounce in his step. Lunch tasted extra good, which Mike declared while waving a carrot stick in the air.

"They should make the first snow a holiday," he exclaimed. "A national holiday!"

Matt did not seem to share his sentiment.

"Whatever you say, Mike," he mumbled.

Mike carried on with his cheerful demeanor, undeterred yet again. At the end of the day, Mike wanted to rush outside to enjoy the new flakes, but his math teacher asked him to stay for a moment. Several long minutes later, Mike pushed open the doors of McKinley High School. The snow had been trampled into slush on the sidewalks, but the grass was covered in a thin white blanket. Mike took a moment to enjoy it, flopping unceremoniously to lay in the soft snow. He stretched out his arms, closed his eyes, and sighed.

"What are you doing?"

A laugh.

Mike opened his eyes to see Brittany standing above him, shivering in only her Cheerios uniform.

"Brittany!" Mike leaped up and grabbed her by the waist, lifting her up and spinning her around. Brittany laughed again. "You must be freezing!" he said.

"Yeah, I didn't know it was going to snow today--" Brittany fell silent as Mike pulled the scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around her.

"Com'n," he said, shrugging out of his jacket and draping it over her shoulders. "I'll walk you to your car."

* * *

**A/N:** Whoa, weird, a note at the bottom, too? I promise never to do it again without good reason. =)

I had originally planned to keep all of the ficlets around 300 words (hence the 300 by 31 bit you keep seeing... 300 words for 31 days of December). #2 ended up way over that, and this one is a tad long too. I guess I'm bad at editing. How do you, my lovely readers, feel about the length? Is less really more, or do you think the more words about Mike, the better? Let me know. With that little thing down there called the review button. =D


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